As the spring weekends go by, more and more beach businesses are opening for the season. This coming weekend will see the return of one of Dewey Beach’s most popular venues.

The Rusty Rudder will emerge from hibernation Saturday, April 12, and the celebration will take place all day and night, with free admission.

From 1 to 4 p.m., local country-rock act Big Hat, No Cattle will provide the soundtrack to the Rudder’s annual Chili Cook-off. At 10 p.m., party band The Rockets will take the stage with a new lineup of members.

Looking ahead a week, the Rudder will host its 14th annual Delaware Music Festival from April 18-19. Four stages with sound systems will be set up throughout the complex for the free event highlighting homegrown music from the first state. Friday’s lineup will include The Bullbuckers, Freshly Squeezed and The Dug, while Saturday will feature Lower Case Blues and Love Seed Mama Jump.

Another festival which also happens to be celebrating its 14th anniversary this year is the Camp Rehoboth Women’s Fest. Music, comedy and educational seminars on various topics will take place throughout downtown Rehoboth Beach from April 11-13. Country star Chely Wright will perform at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center at 8 p.m. Friday, April 11, ($35, $75). Wright was originally scheduled to headline last year’s festival, but postponed the show due to her pregnancy. Wright, who has released a memoir titled “Like Me,” made headlines in the country music world in the mid-1990s when she came out as a lesbian.

Check out our Q&A in this issue with another of the Women’s Fest headliners, Philadelphia singer-songwriter Christine Havrilla. She will play free acoustic shows at the Rehoboth Ale House at 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, and 6 p.m. Saturday, April 12. Havrilla just wrapped a national tour, and will hit the road again next month. In a unique twist on the trend of releasing multiple EPs, she is unveiling a series of discs recorded at different live shows, including private house parties.

As we mentioned last week, downtown Berlin will finally be the site of America’s Coolest Party this weekend — rain or shine, and they mean it this time. The good times at the rain-delayed event will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 12. A parade with marching bands will kick off the free party celebrating the town’s victory in Budget Travel’s 2014 “America’s Coolest Small Town” contest. The Burley Oak Brewery in Berlin will surely be packed the previous evening, when local jam band Galaxy Collective plays a free show at 9 p.m. Friday, April 11.